New planning policy will protect historic Culloden Battlefield area

3rd December 2015

A new conservation area for Culloden Muir near Inverness has been unanimously approved by Members of The Highland Councils City of Inverness Area Committee. This marks the final stages of the first formal review in 47 years to the existing conservation area of Culloden Battlefield which was first designated in 1968.

Removal of the former - and adoption of the new conservation area for the Culloden Muir Conservation Area will now be publicly advertised and Scottish Ministers will be formally notified.

Council Members also approved a Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan which will guide the Highland Council in the determination of future development proposals or planning applications within the new conservation area.

The new designation now means that within the conservation area, planning permission will be required for a range of developments that would normally be permitted development under planning control including house extensions, satellite dishes, boundary enclosures such as walls and fences, and alteration to windows and doors. Substantial or total demolition of unlisted buildings within the conservation area will also require conservation area consent.

Under the existing provisions, Historic Environment Scotland must be consulted on any application for development within the Battlefield Inventory Area, and if they object and Highland Council are still minded to approve, the proposal the case is referred to Scottish Ministers for them to call in the application if they deem it necessary. This provision remains unchanged by the new conservation area designation.

Provost and Leader of the City of Inverness Councillor Helen Carmichael said: I am pleased that we now have a conservation and management plan in place that will help to protect one of our most valuable cultural and tourism assets in the Highlands - historic Culloden Battlefield. This will be a working plan that will help guide current and future planners in their decision-making. It will not be static as the Council has a duty to notify the public of any future proposals to preserve or enhance the conservation area.

Ward Members for Inverness South, Councillors Crawford, Prag and Gowans all praised the work of Highland Councils Conservation Officer, Kerry Hawthorne over the past six years in bringing the final proposals to committee. They noted that the revised conservation areas while not prohibiting development within the area will ensure that it is done sensitively.

Details of the final public consultation report on the Culloden Muir Conservation Area proposed designation, draft Character Appraisal and Management Plan are on the Councils website at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3604/city_of_inverness_area_committee